The Namibian government has accused local print media of sympathising with the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) by withholding crucial information about their movements from the Namibian security forces. UNITA is currently engaged in a war against the government of Angola with several incidents of incursions and violence attributed to UNITA reported […]
The Namibian government has accused local print media of sympathising with the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) by withholding crucial information about their movements from the Namibian security forces.
UNITA is currently engaged in a war against the government of Angola with several incidents of incursions and violence attributed to UNITA reported in the northern part of Namibia.
In an 11 January 2000 statement, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh called on the print media to be “patriotic” and share information with security forces about UNITA’s movements which could endanger the lives of Namibians, and not to engage in what he termed a “wilful scare-mongering campaign intended to create panic and general insecurity” among citizens.
“Would it not be legitimate for the people of Namibia to want to know where the media get their information about UNITA from, and why do they appear to give credence to and sympathise with UNITA, while casting doubt on and actually calling into question the veracity of the Government’s position? This is an unfortunate state of affairs,” he said.
Kalomoh added that the Namibian print media was behaving “as if they are a fifth columnist”.
“People living outside Namibia who read the Namibian print media should be forgiven if they believe that our country is up in flames,” Kalomoh said while drawing attention to stories published in “Die Republikein”, “The Namibian” and the “Mail & Guardian” in South Africa.
He accused the local print media of subjecting the government to a barrage of all manner of “vitriolic propaganda” in recent months, stating that the campaign was aimed at tarnishing the country’s image.
